Magnetoelastic behaviors in holmium antimonide topological semimetal: magnetic torque studies

HoSb crystallizes in cubic rock-salt crystals structure, and orders antiferromagnetically below 5.7 K. Our recent magnetotransport and ARPES studies of HoSb indicate that the presence of bulk band gaps at the Γ and X-symmetry points of the Brillouin zone, but these gaps do not exhibit band inversion, therefore HoSb does not host a Dirac semimetal state. Furthermore, high-field magnetotransport measurements indicate that HoSb can be characterized as a correlated nearly complete electron-hole-compensated semimetal. In the course of our systematic studies on the electronic and magnetoelectric properties of this material, here we show our recent torque measurements on oriented HoSb single crystals. We show that the magnetic torque exhibits large anisotropy in the antiferromagnetic phase. The angle dependence indicates the presence of a complex magnetic structure below the Neel temperature in this cubic system. We will discuss the implications of these studies in the context of magnetic phase-transition and topological state in this material.